Some companies have HR “departments” of one (a solo HR person for an entire company). They face unique challenges such as implementing ideas the HR person has, getting the company to understand, buy in and support doing things the “right way”, having the time needed to think strategically, and being able to give the necessary time and effort to everything, only being able to triage issues. We are lucky to be a part of a great HR team. We have the opportunity bounce ideas off of each other, have support when a task is taking longer than anticipated, when unique challenges arise we can ask our team if they have experience a similar challenge and request advice on how they dealt with it.

Some of the benefits of being part of an HR team!

Previous month’s question: is rudeness contagious? A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology indicates that rudeness actually spreads through the workplace. The study showed that an individual experiencing a rude interaction will be ruder in his/her subsequent interaction.   Even just watching rudeness secondhand produced the same subsequent rude behavior. So, smile and remember that politeness may be a great vaccine.

1. They feel treated like dirt. Workers call lawyers when they feel wronged in some way, especially when they have been treated less than humanely. Toxic workplaces or Toxic Managers lead to lawsuits.
2. A manager has gone rogue. Managers who harass a subordinate or terminate an employee because he/she got a serious illness. Typically the employer knew the manager was a problem and allowed the behavior to continue. In these situations jurors are not kind to employers.
3. Rules aren’t enforced evenly. Employees think the law is being broken when one employee is punished for breaking rules and another isn’t.

If a discrimination claim is settled the average total cost of the claims may come to $125,000, this includes defense payments.

If the decision is made not to settle and the case goes to court and you lose the median judgement in recent discrimination lawsuits is approximately $200,000. 25% of judgements exceed $500,000. These figures do not include defense costs. The defense costs may range (depending on liability insurance) $35,000 – $90,000 additional to the judgement.

HRMorning.com, “What will that next discrimination charge cost you” 11/09/2015